A 5-Step Plan on How to Feed Hundreds of People a Week in Your Community
Over 7 days, these volunteers churn out 3,000 meals to battle pandemic food insecurity
Bellevue, Pennsylvania, a borough of fewer than 10,000 residents adjacent to Pittsburgh, is a place where people know their neighbors.
So when the state started shutting down schools, daycares, restaurants, and stores in mid-March, a handful of organizers affiliated with the working-class community’s farmers market recognized that food insecurity was going to be a problem.
Because they worked to make a SNAP program available to marketgoers, they were aware of just how many people in the community may have trouble getting food as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In addition, Bellevue has a large elderly population, many of whom would need to self-isolate or quarantine.
Over the weekend of March 14 and 15, Mallory and Albert Ciuksza got to work: They bought food, sought commercial kitchen space, and put out calls for volunteers on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
A little over a month later, they’ve collected enough space, food, money, and volunteers to deliver meals to 1,000 people every Wednesday, Saturday, and Sunday.
